Harness Youth Power to Rebuild India Youth TransForming India {YTF_India} YTF_India Ideology

“Om sthapakayacha dharmasya sarva dharma svarupine

Avatara varishthaya Ramakrishnaya te namaha”

 

We offer our pranams to the revered Swamijis’ on the dais & in the audience. Seeking their blessings, we greet you.

Today we all shall be discussing the topic of youth power & how it can be used to rebuild India? We will have to clearly understand two things for this: firstly, what power that youth have?  Secondly, why & how should India be rebuilt?  Let us deal with Youth Power first.

Youth power: What power that youth have?  You are surely aware that India has the largest population of youths in the world today. Everywhere in India we find youth organizations, youth movements; especially student organizations and student movements. We are not very  comfortable speaking about student movements & organizations because we know  that some way or the other they are politically inclined, politically backed, politically motivated and politically mobilized. Today, youth power has become synonymous with strikes, violence, agitation and a ceaseless restlessness, a ceaseless cry for demands. I have worked in certain States in India where the entire state machinery is controlled by student organizations & student pressure groups.

 

Swami Vivekananda spoke again and again of the immense power of  youth. And believe me; what he meant was nothing of this kind. It is important for you all to know that since time immemorial India has recognized the possibility of utilizing this immense power lodged in youth & has developed an entire science of handling this power at an individual level. What exactly did Swamiji mean by the power of youth? There are at least two distinct aspects to this power. Firstly, there is the power of intense idealism in youth. Secondly, there is the power of raw mental and physical energy. The power of idealism needs to be connected with the highest ideals. The mental & physical energies have to be channelized & sublimated. We will speak about the science of dealing with this power a little later.

Now, let us see what this whole idea of rebuilding India is.

Rebuild India: Why rebuild? How can a Nation be rebuilt? Does India need to be rebuilt? If so, up to what level? Who will set the standard for our upliftment? Should we raise our country up to the social & economic standards of Europe or America? These questions have to be answered.

 

We look at other prosperous countries in the world, like the United States of America, Germany and Japan. We are then tempted to change India into a prototype of one of these foreign countries. But we don’t need to do that. Why?

 

Each nation has its own line of natural growth. Nations cannot imitate one another; just as individuals cannot imitate one another. Then, what does uplifting India mean?

Each country has a unique destiny to fulfill. What is applicable to one nation does not apply to another. India too has a destiny to fulfill. What is that destiny? India has to create the ideal society that will help for manifesting all energies in individuals simultaneously with realizing all secular ideals in the community. Enabling our nation to fulfill this destiny is the meaning of uplifting India. Let me repeat. India has a destiny to fulfill. And that destiny is ‘Atmano  Mokshartham Jagaddhitaya cha’. Enabling our nation to fulfill this destiny is the meaning of uplifting India.

Now, if this is India’s destiny, why is it not achieving it? What is stopping it? Naturally there are some obstructions, some problems. Let us see what they are.

What are the problems assailing India today?

Problems: Every Indian has his own unique reading and diagnosis of the problems that India has. The newspapers and magazines tell us those problems that India has. The newspapers and magazines tell us that corruption, unemployment & an ineffective education system, utter disrespect for social law & order, growing insecurity of women & children, & nepotism at the local level, growing divide between the classes of people in society, and abject poverty are the main problems that India faces today. Then there are the reactionary political movements in our country  that point out that erosion of democratic values from society, corruption, uncontrolled population explosion, lopsided development in urban areas and neglect of rural areas are the main concern for the nation today.

 

What does Swami Vivekananda says about India’s problems? He has said sufficient things about the various problems that India is facing now. But what I am interested in pointing out to you today is his observation on the root of these problems. We must appreciate that India’s problems are not isolated issues. On the surface it looks as if they are all isolated, stand-alone issues. But deep down, they are all interconnected. Swami Vivekananda points this out with uncanny precision.

He says with great candor, “It is due to want of Brahmacharya that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country.”

 

I wish to point out one important trend in our country today. And that is – we have neglected the message of this great visionary, Swami Vivekananda! Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time a person discovered a remote island on the Pacific Ocean and returned to his native village. He brought back enormous amounts of gold, silver and diamonds from that island.

Overnight there was hope & development in his village. Upon returning, he sat down and drew a map. This map described details of the island. It also showed the route he had taken. Then he wrote down the dangers of the journey and the assistance that one could get on the way. All the people hailed him as a great hero. In due course, the intrepid explorer died. Then the villagers built a statue of that man in the main square. The maps he had drawn and books he had written were kept in glass cases and worshipped. Alas! No one bothered to study those maps, use the information in the books he had written and attempt to reach that island themselves!

Similar is our story. We have started worshipping Swami Vivekananda. Please do not misunderstand me. I don’t say it is bad. It is better than most of the foolish and useless things that today’s youth are doing. But what is actually needed now is to study his life, lectures, conversations and letters.

And when I say we must study Swami Vivekananda, what I mean is study as we do in school or college for our Board & University Exams; detailed study. We shall study, not for speaking or writing articles, but for understanding what he has said & for giving a direction for our own lives.

Acchaa…Now that we have seen the problems that India faces today, surely there must be some remedies too.

Its remedies:  Again, as with the diagnosis, each person seems to have his or her own blueprint for repairing India. Read the newspapers and magazines and you will find this is true. Or speak to your friends and you will agree.